Kara:

> Is it better to cut it in half, or to lay out the 60" kitty-corner
> across the boat for better fiber bias? More scraps, I'd guess, but most
> could be used on high-use patches. Any ideas?

I used the diagonal layout as described in Nick's book. It worked wonderfully. Here are some links to pictures showing the process of cutting the cloth. I used a roll of butcher paper to layout a generous pattern on the deck and the hull. I then taped the paper pattern onto the rolled out glass, which took up all of my living room and half the dining room. I used pinking shears to cut through the masking tape and the fiberglass. I left the tape on the glass throughout the whole process until that overhanging epoxied scrap section was cut off and discarded. The tape kept the ends from fraying. On subsequent uses of the same pattern, I just taped the same paper/glass pattern to the glass again, and cut through the slightly wider pattern again.

This process worked very well. I would use wider tape the next time, because 1 inch tape leaves only 1/2 inch to be shared and the pinking shears make a wide kerf.

Yes, the leftovers were used extensively in the rest of the boat.

Here are some pictures of the layout process.

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-4.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-5.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-6.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-7.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-8.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-9.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-10.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-11.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-12.jpg

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k048-13.jpg

Sorry I don't have the html ready yet. The boat's been getting my attention and the webpage has suffered from relative neglect.

Good luck. This was a big step for me as as the project changed from woodworking to a boat.

Ed Valley